Mending Winchester
by DarkpeanutS
Summary: Season 2 AU. Seraphina Donovan is a recently graduated RN trying to make her way in the big bad world. She wants an identity of her own... not to ride her family's coattails. A last request from John Winchester and other people from her past will make that difficult. SAM/OC.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: First chapter story that I've posted! Woo! Alright, because this is AU please be aware that some things will be changing in order to fit my needs. However, where I can, I will stick as close to canon as possible. This WILL eventually be SAM/OC however there will be mentions of other pairings if you look close. For anyone who lives in the Memphis area, I apologize. Never been there... I'm just making things up. I will try to post AT LEAST once a week, however the reason I'm getting this first one out is because school is about to start. So we'll see how that goes. Now without further ado, please enjoy and tell me what you think!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. I also do not own Kill Bill, Syfy, Coca-Cola, or the Red Hot Chili Peppers._

The young woman glanced at the silver watch on her left wrist as she stepped into the elevator and sighed softly, seeing the hands at quarter to seven in the morning. She pushed some of her long brown hair over her ear and took a sip of the steaming coffee she held in her right hand while settling in among the other people, mostly staff, inside the small metal box.

"Ground please," she mumbled to whoever was closest to the button panel.

As the doors opened and she stepped out onto the ground floor she was assaulted with the stark, yet familiar, smell of cleaning agents and something more subtle and metallic that she knew was blood. The emergency department was always busy, people swarming about like insects in a nest. She bumped up against someone's shoulder as she slid into the break room.

"Hey!" the person chirped, "Sera!" they continued in the same excited tone.

Sera slid her deep blue eyes to the now beaming woman, clothed in the same baby blue scrubs as herself, as she headed to the beige lockers in the corner of the room.

"Hey Emily, I'm still in the process of waking up." Sera acknowledged, with her own subdued smile.

"Oh I get ya, I've been going strong for about eight by now though- I'm charge today. I think they have you in triage if I remember correctly." Emily responded, putting a hand on her hip and leaning against the door frame.

Sera nodded. "Sounds good to me, I could _use_ some action first thing. Are you on until eleven or are you pulling a double?" Sera asked as she slid her messenger bag off her shoulder and onto the floor in the corner of the lockers.

"I'm off at eleven. I think they cut me off for the pay period but we'll see how long that lasts. You know how it goes." Emily finished with a chuckle.

Sere nodded again, leaning up against the small table that sat in front of the lockers and wrapping a hair tie around the loose bun she formed on the top of her head. "Yeah that's why I'm here; Covering a morning at the end of the week because people are _cut off_." She groused, tipping her coffee up to drain it.

"You night owl, you," Emily said with a laugh. "But hey I'll catch up to you later before I leave. Have a good one!" she finished and spun out of the doorway, her name being paged on the loud speaker.

"Yeah, sure," Sera said to the now empty doorway.

Sera would normally be feeling just like Emily if she were on her usual midnight shift, but for some reason, she always had trouble starting in the mornings. The caffeine was starting to seep into her system though as she stood up straighter and prepared to walk out onto the floor. She opened her locker, grabbed an ink pen and her stethoscope from amongst the extra scrubs and shoes, and took a deep breath. She pocketed the pen and slung the stethoscope around her neck. Finding her center, she tossed her coffee cup and headed toward the door.

* * *

Sera never saw Emily again that day, the influx of patients coming through triage kept her busier than usual. The older nurses on the staff claimed it was because of the full moon but whatever the cause, Sera preferred being busy.

The normal cases came and went, being transported to their designated department. There were broken bones, severe abdominal pain that was likely appendicitis or an impactment, people having symptoms of a heart attack, and even a woman going into premature labor. Sera had been able to keep her hands mostly clean though for the first half of her shift.

"Oh hey Mr. Brewer, what is it this time?" Sera asked, recognizing the middle-aged man on the examination table as she walked into one of her rooms.

"How many times do I have to ask ya to call me Fred, Girl?" Fred asked with a bright smile on his face.

"Probably as many as it takes for you to call me Sera." She replied, cracking a wry smile.

Fred was one of their "regulars". He came in about once a month with a new complaint of pain, and it was common knowledge that he visited more than just this particular hospital. There were several located in and around the Memphis area after all.

"Aw alright, Missy… Well it's my neck this time. Nothing seems to help except for those pills y'all gave me last time. It's killin' me!" Fred told her while bringing a hand to the back of his neck and glancing away from her.

"Alright, Fred. Let me just do my part here and I'll get the doctor." Sera said while pulling her stethoscope from around her neck and starting her assessment.

Slipping a community support program's pamphlet under his hand and receiving the usual remorseful sigh in return, Sera left the room. She walked up to the centrally located nurses' station and got the attention of one of the desk clerks.

"Could you tell Dr. Stevens that the man in number three is Mr. Brewer? Thank you," Sera said while looking at the screen that showed the conditions of patients on incoming ambulances.

The clerk frowned and shook her head, but picked up the phone to relay the message. Sera knew that most people didn't understand Fred's condition and simply wrote him off as a drug seeker. It was her job to take what patient's said at face value, not to judge them. So she reported his pain and always left him with information on getting into a detox and rehab program, just in case he wanted it.

As Sera was getting a drink of water from the fountain she heard "Nurse needed to trauma, nurse to trauma," over the loud speaker.

She glanced around to see who would be headed in that direction, and frowned when she didn't see any nurses in the hallway. She looked over to her rooms. The couple of patients located there had already been seen, were stable, and were simply waiting for their transport to a new department. The next ambulance was still fifteen minutes out. Unless someone was a walk-in, she could spare a few minutes.

"I've got it," Sera called to the desk clerk as she strode briskly toward trauma.

Sera could hear the man groaning when she was still two rooms away. She glanced at her work phone and the program that gave her basic information on each patient in the unit. It wasn't somebody she had triaged so he was probably taken directly to trauma, but he had been stable when the nurse notified the doctor of his primary complaint. It looked like they thought he was possibly dehiscing from an abdominal incision and she knew those could easily turn into an emergency situation.

With a sharp knock on the door Sera walked in and immediately assessed the situation. The man was already in a gown and was doubled over on the bed, grasping at his abdomen. A woman with a small child on her hip had a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I'm Nurse Donovan. Can you tell me what's wrong?" Sera said coming to a stop at the bedside and placing two fingers on his neck to gauge his pulse.

The man shook his head, in too much pain to speak. His pulse was racing, and she noticed he was close to hyperventilating.

"We came in because the stitches he had on his stomach from his hernia surgery looked really infected. We were waiting for the doctor to come in to look and my husband went to pick up Nick… he's been like this now for a couple minutes." The woman told Sera, glancing away from her husband only briefly.

Sera frowned. "Sir, I'm going to lift up your gown and take a look." She warned him. She only had to glance at the wound before she quickly replaced the man's gown.

"Ma'am I'm going to need you to wait in the hallway with your child, the doctor will be coming in any second." Sera stated calmly, reaching behind the bed to hit the staff emergency button.

"O-oh… okay." The woman said wide-eyed. "Is it bad?" she asked stepping away from her husband.

Sera gently but quickly ushered her to the door. "It's nothing we can't take care of." She told her, avoiding the question.

After making sure the woman, and the child, were completely outside of the door and couldn't see into the room she spun on her heel and all but ran back to the bed.

"Just hold on sir, I'm going to lie you down." Sear told the man, laying the bed flat.

As she was lifting the man's gown back up a nurse assistant, Sera vaguely remembered her name being a variation of Danielle, walked in and asked her what she needed.

"I need you to hand me all of the sterile gauze you can find in that cupboard and the bottle of saline." Sera said as she snapped on some gloves.

Another nurse walked in and upon looking at the man's exposed abdomen, came over to grab gloves and assist Sera. The man's stitched wound had definitely been infected. The skin around the wound was an angry red and a thick yellow drainage was apparent on the parts of the gown that had been touching it. Blood was also seeping out now from around the torn stitches. A small portion of fat, muscle, and intestine could be seen poking out among the black threads. He wasn't just dehiscing anymore, he was eviscerating.

As the two worked to cover the wound with gauze soaked in saline, the doctor came in after what seemed like forever. He immediately called the OR to clear a space and told the nurses to help him set up for transport.

As Sera tried to keep the wound from opening further, the other nurse was trying to clean around the opening. The risk for sepsis was huge at this point, since the site was already infected and now bowel was outside of the body cavity. Seeing that the other nurse was still busy with her cleaning and the doctor was inserting an IV, Sera closed her eyes.

Concentrating, Sera could feel the unique life energy that was the bacteria invading the man's tissues. It felt like a dull roar against his weak immune system and their power seemed to grow even stronger as his body lost the fight against them. She focused her own, more powerful energy, toward the bacteria. She carefully started to lessen their numbers and simultaneously healed the further damage that they had caused around the wound, damage not visible to the naked eye.

Satisfied that she stopped their progression a few moments later, and hopefully avoided a septic situation, Sera opened her eyes and glanced at the other nurse and doctor. They were still too distracted to notice her eyes fade from a milky white color back to her normal blue.

As Sera walked back toward her rooms, the eviscerated man on his way to another surgery, she fought off some dizziness and a wave of nausea. She clutched at her stomach briefly until the feelings passed. Shaking her head to clear it, she met the EMS team at the door and took her next stretcher-bound patient from them.

* * *

At seven thirty that night Sera grabbed her bag from the break room, replaced her locker items, and headed to the elevator. On her way out she waved tiredly to the hospital security guard and tucked her hands in her pockets for the short walk home. Her small apartment was in a complex only a couple of blocks away from the hospital, as it was meant for its staff. It wasn't spectacular to her but it was definitely on the nicer end, having security and a main lobby acting as gatekeepers to the living area.

As she swiped her key card on the elevator the doors closed and the light behind the number two button lit up. Upon exiting the elevator she took a left and walked all the way to the end of the hall. Again swiping her key card, Sera gained access to her dark, two-bedroom apartment.

Flipping on the lights, a hallway became visible, and she slid off her tennis shoes before tossing her key card on the small table in the entryway. Progressing further into the apartment she passed a half bathroom and a door that opened into the smaller of the two bedrooms. At the end of the hall she flipped on the next set of lights and a spacious living room appeared; a kitchen with an island was slightly visible off to one side. Walking through the living room Sera came to her final destination.

The final light she turned on illuminated the deep purples and pastel greens of her bedroom's decor. She dropped her bag next to her large dresser and began to strip out of her scrubs. Tossing them into the closet, aiming for the basket but missing, she heard whistling start up from her bag.

The Kill Bill themed ring tone was just finishing by the time she wandered over and grabbed it and a ding alerted her that she missed the call. Typing in her password the missed call from "MOM" flashed up on the screen. Sera frowned. Tossing the phone on the dresser she opened some drawers and pulled out her usual running gear, some stretch pants and a t-shirt. She quickly changed and grabbed her iPod from next to where she had tossed her phone.

Another ding alerted her to the fact that she now had a voicemail. Sighing, she again typed in her password and bent to lace up her running shoes.

"Seraphina Fae Donovan!" the voice of her mother belted out, "It has been weeks since we have heard from you and I have been calling you nonstop!" her mother continued. Sera finished her task and stood up, rolling her eyes.

"You have missed so much training and we need your help. You know that there have been more cases than usual, or at least you would if you bothered to check in. Call me back Seraphina, or better yet, come home!" The message concluded and Sera imagined her mother throwing the phone across the room at the end.

Leaving the phone alone, and purposefully NOT calling her mother back, she headed back out of the apartment. She left most of the lights on and grabbed her key card and a bottle of water on the way out. As Sera again stood on the sidewalk, she popped in her ear buds and let out self-suffering sigh as she started her jog, the beats of the Red Hot Chili Peppers motivating her steps.

After a few miles Sera decided she was done for the night and headed back toward her apartment. She stripped out of her running clothes and quickly rinsed off before she set about to make some dinner. Still in a towel she rummaged in her cupboards long enough to grab a pot to fill with water and the ingredients for spaghetti.

She got everything on the stove and starting to heat up then headed back into her room. She braided her long hair and let it rest on her shoulder and grabbed a pink camisole and some black shorts. A few minutes later she was back in the kitchen finishing her meal. After snatching a can of Coke from the fridge and a heaping bowl of pasta she settled down on the couch. It didn't take her long to finish and she watched bad Syfy Channel movies until her bed started calling her name several hours later.

* * *

Back at the hospital, the new triage nurse that took over for Sera when she left waited by the door for some new patients being brought in. Three males, all currently in critical condition after their classic car was T-boned by a semi-truck. She greeted the paramedics as they brought in the first of the three from the helipad.

"No names given, and no one has called in here looking for them?" The nurse asked as she watched them wheel him in, the other two stretchers on their way.

"Correct. The big one here was conscious when we arrived but only long enough to ask about the other two, apparently his brother and father." The paramedic replied.

"Go ahead and take them straight to trauma. This is going to be a long night." The new triage nurse groaned.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I tried to get home early enough to make the wait only a week... I failed by 2 hours. Either way, I hope you guys enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. I also do not own Vanderbilt University._

Sera frowned as she slowly came to wakefulness, the sun finally breaking through into her blissful dreams. Opening her eyes and rolling over she stared at the wall until she could raise the effort to reach for her phone. The numbers that appeared when she pushed the button told her that it was almost noon. Climbing slowly out of bed, she stretched some choice muscle groups on her way to the bathroom. She completed her usual morning routine of relieving herself, showering, and brushing her teeth.

Stepping out of the steamy on-suite in one of her plush black towels, Sera walked over to her dresser. She opened the top drawer and rifled around in her undergarments before selecting a comfortable cotton set. She pulled the pale yellow cheeky underwear over her toned legs and voluptuous backside before she clipped the matching bra over her modest chest. Leaning over she opened the bottom drawer and grabbed a pair of faded skinny jeans. From her closet she selected a gray camisole.

Now mostly dressed, Sera left her room and headed to the kitchen. She started her coffee pot and began to make some oatmeal. While she waited on both, she sat at the island and ate a banana. She tossed the peel into the trash at the end of the counter a few minutes later as she flipped through some mail, setting aside the rent bill.

'_Have to remember to do that…_' She thought to herself, trying to commit it to her sometimes-lacking memory.

Noticing that the coffee had stopped percolating, Sera went over to pour it into her favorite mug. She added some sugar and a bit of hazelnut creamer to the purple cup before she sat it aside. Next she attended to the now cooling oatmeal which received its own sugar and also some cinnamon. With her bowl and mug she left the kitchen to sit on her white suede couch. She flipped channels while she ate.

When she was done Sera put her dishes in the sink and checked her phone for the time. '_Office is still open, cool_.' She thought.

Walking toward the door to her apartment she slipped on some black flats and her black and gold sweatshirt with Vanderbilt's commodore on the front, "Donovan" in block lettering on the back. She grabbed her key card and left.

* * *

At the hospital only a few minutes later Sera walked into the nursing office. It was in the middle of the day shift and so it was pretty deserted. She walked over to one of the cubicles and powered on the computer. She logged in and quickly checked her work email and made sure she didn't have any work training coming up. Then she switched over to the schedule application and took out her phone to copy down her days.

Sera looked up when the door banged open and a nurse she knew from her orientation rushed in. She immediately headed for the managers door, not even stopping to knock. Frowning slightly, Sera went back to copying her schedule until she heard the girl's dejected sigh as she stepped out of the manager's office. The nurse looked around, almost unseeing, until her eyes landed on Sera and lit up.

"Sera, right? Oh my gosh, I have a HUGE favor to ask of you." The nurse said hurriedly, coming to stand by Sera.

'_Oh no._' Sera thought to herself.

"Okay…" Sera ground out slowly, already dreading this "favor".

"Look, my boyfriend ditched on picking my parents up from the airport and nobody but me is in the area to get them. Linda said there isn't anybody she can spare to send upstairs unless I can find someone who wants to come in…" the nurse said, trailing off at the end.

Sera blanched. "Umm, I see where you're going and I'm sorry but today is my ONLY day off this week… and I kinda sorta don't even remember your name." she told the nurse with what she hoped was a remorseful expression and not a grimace.

"No worries, I only knew yours because of the last name on your sweatshirt. It's Alicia. I'm begging you though… I haven't seen my parents in almost a year, since I moved out here! And it's my birthday… And I'll owe you! Whatever you want!" Alicia pleaded.

Sera sighed. "You'll owe me alright. Where are you even working today?"

"ICU. I know you're qualified, I've seen you up there before. So please?" Alicia even put her hands together and pouted.

Sera sighed again and actually thought about it. She COULD work ICU, and it meant more money. Besides, she had only planned on watching TV all day… she couldn't knowingly keep somebody who actually WANTED to see their parents from doing so. Though she wondered if it was actually Alicia's birthday…

"Okay, fine. But you're getting me my coffee for like a month." Sera told her.

"Deal! Thank you so much, Sera!" Alicia squealed, turning to run back into Linda's office and let her know.

Sera sighed and prepared to go get her extra scrubs, tennis shoes, and other gear from her locker downstairs, remembering she didn't have any socks on as Alicia all but flew out of the door. '_Well this shift is going to be uncomfortable and gross._' She thought before pocketing her phone and heading out of the office.

* * *

Now up on the ICU floor Sera pulled her long hair up into a high pony tail and glanced at her assignments. One patient was a young girl in due to an inoperable congenital heart defect that finally sent her into heart failure. The other three patients were victims of a car crash. Two were almost ready to be discharged from ICU because their injuries were mostly minor but they hadn't yet gained consciousness. The last was in a much more serious situation having cerebral edema, damage to his liver and kidneys, and is intubated with a ventilator.

Sera walked up to the charge nurse to get report and grabbed her work phone off of the desk.

"Sera, you look at your assignment?" the charge nurse asked, glancing up from her packet of notes only briefly.

"Yes. I just need the current information, I looked at the history." Sera told her.

"Alright, good. Well the girl is simply on pain management at this point. She is still getting her cardiac and diuretic meds but everything else is discontinued. She is on oxygen through her trach. She has no procedures scheduled. Just keep her and the family comfortable." the charge nurse told her, flipping a few pages in her packet.

"Two of your men, brother and father, have been stable and as long as they stay that way and wake up they'll be out of your hands soon enough. They both have mostly minor injuries and you'll just need to keep an eye on them." the charge nurse continued, getting a nod from Sera.

"Now this last brother doesn't have anything scheduled but that's because with his current condition they don't want to try anything yet. He has been trending hypotensive and tachycardic. He has lacerations to his liver and kidneys as well as some cerebral edema. Respiratory has been trying to stabilize his respirations on the vent so get in touch with them. He has a mountain of fluids and antibiotics. He hasn't been cleaned up since he was brought in last night and the docs want ROM started. They think he'll be in for the long haul if he even makes it through the next 48. Any questions?" the charge nurse finished, looking up at Sera.

"No I think I've got it. Thanks." Sera replied smiling and turned to walk away.

The first room Sera came to was the little girl's. Said girl was surrounded by her family and being read a story. Sera found she would have little to do with this patient because the family insisted on doing a lot of it themselves. Sera would simply have to provide the girl's medications and check in from time to time.

The first of Sera's male patients that she saw was the man on the ventilator. She walked in and fought the urge to whistle in appreciation. It was always a shock to see someone hooked up to so much machinery, especially a someone who looked as able-bodied as this man. Even with all of the wires, tubes, and his currently ashen skin Sera could tell he was usually quite the looker. His facial features were hard and his jaw line was sharp. Even under the hospital attire his musculature was fairly obvious. The lack of emotion on his face due to his comatose state looked very wrong to Sera though, and she wondered what expressions the man usually wore.

Sera finished taking the man's vitals and proceeded to check the ventilator settings. She called the respiratory therapist on duty and found out what their plans were for the man. She then checked his IV lines and their insertion sites as well as his nasogastric tube. Using a pillow Sera turned the man onto his side slightly to prevent bed stores. She would have to grab all of the supplies needed to clean him up and work on his range of motion exercise for the next time she came in.

Leaving her most intense patient Sera walked into the next patient's room, the other brother. She was again struck by the appearance of her patient. This one wasn't anywhere near as close to death and Sera assumed this was most likely the way he usually looked, minus the black eye and various tiny lacerations. He was taller than his brother. He had lighter hair that framed his face and grew curly at the ends. He was also muscular, but he seemed softer somehow… not as rugged.

While Sera was caught up in her observation of the patient she couldn't help but notice his strange aura. He had energy that she wasn't familiar with. It was mostly that of a normal human, maybe a little stronger, but there was a horrible tinge to it. It felt volatile and violent to Sera and for some reason she couldn't believe that it really belonged in this man. '_Maybe I'm just as out of practice as Mother keeps trying to tell me I am._' Sera thought to herself as she finally started taking the man's vitals. Everything was within normal limits and she quickly moved on.

In the final room Sera almost couldn't help the chuckle that wanted to escape her throat upon seeing the final man. She could definitely see where the brothers got their looks from. Their father was very handsome as far as older guys go. The brother on the ventilator definitely shared the rugged thing with his father. Sera wondered if the other brother took after their mother.

She proceeded to take his vitals and get a general feel of his condition. He was in about the same non-lethal condition as his one son. However, as Sera was checking his extremities she found a wound that the previous staff had apparently missed. It was a small hole in his leg that she discovered went all the way through. She realized with a start that it was a gunshot wound. She frowned and grabbed some supplies from the bedside to clean and wrap the site. She left moments later in order to start on her own charting and care plans… and to see if she could find any mention about what she found.

* * *

For the next couple of hours everything became a quiet routine: Checking on each of her patients in turn and also providing medications to the two more severe cases. The man that was on the ventilator occupied the majority of Sera's time. She had tubes and wounds to clean and also worked some of the man's muscles in hopes of keeping their superb tone. She never did find any mention of the gunshot wound in the father's records, but decided to wait until he woke up to see what action she should take about it.

Sera was on one of her rounds when the first of them woke up. She had been taking the tallest man's pulse and went to tuck his arm back into place when his opposite hand shot out and clamped onto her wrist. His breathing picked up and he stared at her wide-eyed while she flinched.

"Where…" He started before coughing, most likely due to dryness.

"Shhh, you're okay. You're in the hospital. I'm Nurse Donovan. I'm just gonna grab you some water." Sera told him, gently prying his fingers from her wrist so she could head to the sink.

She quickly grabbed a cup and filled it from the tap. She glanced at the already purpling marks the man had left on her and marveled at the fact that he didn't even seem to have any residual weakness. When the cup was almost full she walked back to the bedside and handed it to him.

"Uh, sorry about that." He said with a small frown after he had gulped some of the liquid down, "But I meant where is my brother? And my dad?" He asked her, the wild look fading from his eyes only slightly.

"They're both here. They're alive. You're the first one to wake up, mister…" Sera informed him while trying to gain some information of her own.

"Oh I'm… Sam. How long have I been out?" He asked her, looking around his room.

"Well _Sam_, you were all brought in last night so it hasn't been a day yet." Sera told him, letting him know she thought it was odd that he didn't provide a last name.

"I'm just gonna go ahead and get your vitals now that you're awake to make sure nothing changed." She said while grabbing her stethoscope from around her neck.

Now that he was calmer and had taken stock of his current environment Sam took a moment to size up the woman currently leaning over him. She was pressing the stethoscope against his back in various places and telling him to take deep breaths. He found himself noticing her attractive details. He could see the swell of her backside if he looked over her shoulder and if he glanced away from that, there were breasts less than a foot away from his face.

While he wasn't his brother, her appearance still excited him in a small way that still surprised him after everything that happened with Jess. It definitely didn't happen often. He almost sighed when she stepped back and slung the stethoscope around her neck. He didn't know if it was in relief or loss of the closeness. She smiled at him then and it lit up her whole face, from her plump pink lips to her deep blue eyes.

"You seem perfectly fine, except for the bruises and scrapes of course. That's good, it means you can go to a step-down and probably be discharged soon." Sera told him, though she noticed he looked slightly put-off from her comment.

"In the mean-time I'll order you something to eat." She said turning toward the door.

"Wait! When can I see them?" Sam asked her.

"Well not until you're off of this critical care unit, sorry. It really shouldn't be long though. Doc just has to come and verify your condition." Sera replied, smiling when she received a terse nod from Sam.

Walking to the nurse's station Sera couldn't help but reflect on how Sam's rich voice matched the sweet persona she had imagined him having. He was strong though, her wrist being proof of that. She put Sam's newest vitals in the computer and sent an alert to the attending to verify his condition. She also put in a stat order to the dietary staff for him.

Sera glanced at her watch as she logged off the computer. '_Oh wow… already the half-way point._' She noticed. She stretched a little and headed toward the patient on the ventilator's room to check in on him before she went on break. He hadn't moved, not surprising, and seemed to be in the same condition according to his monitors. Walking back into the hallway, Sera spotted the charge nurse walking out of another room.

"Hey I'm going downstairs if that's okay. Want anything?" Sera called to her.

The charge nurse stopped to look at her and replied, "That's fine and I'm okay for now, thanks." Before she continued on down the hall.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Just beat the deadline! Bam! Let me know what you think please. :)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. I also do not own Def Leppard, The Picture of Dorian Gray, or any Ouija boards._

Sera practically bounced down the stairs to the first floor. She headed in the direction of the coffee shop eagerly. Walking in, the smell alone was enough to set her mouthwatering. She ordered her usual: a caramel mocha latte, and added a ham and cheese bagel for lunch.

She took her treats to the table in the corner of the shop and sat down. As she enjoyed her purchases she thought about her male patients. '_I wonder what happened to them. I know I heard about a car crash but some of those wounds looked older than a few hours… and that gunshot wound._' She made a face.

She shouldn't really care. They were admitted, and they needed help. She couldn't' help but feel a sense of foreboding though. Something about that family was off… and Sam's weird energy had set her on edge. She didn't even have to talk to the other two men, she just had a sixth sense sometimes. Unfortunately it never told her what was actually going to go down.

Sera shrugged. '_Hopefully, it will be after my good-hearted fill-in shift._' She though humorously, while also finishing her bagel. Shortly after that the coffee was gone as well and she stood up to leave after checking her watch.

Back upstairs Sera started another round on her patients. The man on the ventilator was no different but his IV bags had to be changed. The little girl got another dose of pain medication and Sera spent a few minutes speaking quietly with her parents. They were clearly upset, but they told her that they had been preparing for this since the girl was born.

That conversation left Sera slightly distracted and as she moved through the hallway on her way to the next patient she bumped into something. She was shocked when she realized it was a person.

"My gosh, I'm so sorry I was just…" Sera trailed off as she took in the features of the man she had run into.

She glanced at the room next to him, the one he had walked out of, and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, Nurse Donovan. Doc's actually said they didn't see a problem with discharging me right away." Sam told her, his hands raised in an attempt to placate her.

Sera's face softened and she smiled. Sam couldn't help the answering smile that came to his face.

"Hey that's great then! I'm uh, glad, you found the things they recovered from the crash. Did someone give you your discharge papers and everything?" Sera asked him, eyeing the blood on his jacket.

"Yeah, I think I'm set." Sam replied, pulling a thick packet of papers out of his back pocket.

"Could you tell me what rooms my dad and brother are in though?" Sam asked after a moment, shoving the papers back into place.

"Of course. Your dad is actually in that one." She pointed to the room next to Sam's old one, "and your brother's is across the hall and down one." She finished with another point.

"Thanks, I'm gonna go see 'em now." Sam said before smiling again and turning away from her.

Sera shook her head, trying to clear it from thoughts of how cute Sam was. She watched him walk into his brother's room while she continued on down the hall a few steps into his dad's room. The man was actually sitting up and was staring straight ahead of him.

"Oh! Hello, I'm Nurse Donovan. How are you feeling?" Sera asked him after introducing herself.

"A little sore, my arm mostly. Donovan you say?" he asked finally looking at her as she grabbed her stethoscope and began a basic assessment.

"Mmmhmm." Sera mumbled in response, trying to listen to his heart and breath sounds.

"You look a lot like your mother." He said a moment later, almost softly.

"My… mother? You know her?" Sera asked him while pulling back slowly, a sour look coming to her face.

"Oh yeah. Me and Vicki go way back. You were probably just too young to remember me and the boys being around, Seraphina." He told her, laughing at the look on her face when it seemed to darken even more.

"Please, only my parents call me that. Everyone else calls me Sera." She told him while walking to the sink to get some water.

She handed him the glass and watched him take a few sips. She was wracking her brain to try and see if she could remember this man. Maybe she really had been too young. She didn't know how he would know her family though… It seemed only a certain type of people did. But then Sera remembered his gunshot wound.

"So who are you, exactly?" Sera asked him after a few moments of silence.

"John Winchester. Although I'd appreciate it if you kept that to yourself for the time being." John replied, a hopeful smile on his face.

"You're John Winchester? The hunter?" Sera asked incredulously.

"The one and only. Are my boys around?" John asked her and much like his son did before him he glanced about the room, almost sizing it up.

"Oh yeah. How silly of me. Sam was actually just discharged and he's in visiting with your other son. I'm sorry I don't know, or remember I guess, his name. He's… in rough shape." Sera told him almost guiltily after a pause.

"Yeah unfortunately I know exactly what… shape, he's in. Nothing you can do about that, huh?" John asked, eyeing her in a stern way.

Sera was startled for a second before having to remind herself that this man knew her family and what they could do. Hell, John Winchester was a name she heard slandered almost as much as her own. He was known for being reckless and had been in the clinic many times over the years. Although if she remembered correctly he hadn't been heard from in quite some time. Sera wished she could remember the man in front of her… and more about his sons.

"No, sorry. I'm not my mother and unfortunately I lack the skill necessary to do much more than minor wound control." Sera replied, almost regretting having ignored her mother for so long because of the look that came to John's face.

"I see. Well I can't really hold that against ya." John sighed and looked toward the window, effectively ending the conversation.

Sera walked out of the room briskly. He had seemed almost excited, maybe even relieved, to see her. Then he had asked about his sons and if she could help and it was as if his reality came crashing down around him. Sera wondered again what had happened to the family before that car crash. Knowing now that John was a hunter opened up endless possibilities. Hopefully it was nothing that would come back to finish the job. Sera called the doctor assigned to the unit and told him about the patient gaining consciousness before glancing at her watch.

Realizing her borrowed shift was quickly coming to an end she checked in on the little girl and went to finish her charting. She gave report to the new nurse coming on and went down to her usual locker to change back into the jeans and sweatshirt from earlier. Time really had flown today, but then it hadn't really been a full shift. As she walked out of the hospital and toward her apartment she couldn't help but be mildly upset she probably wouldn't be seeing the Winchesters again. '_I kind of want to know what's going on.' _Sera admitted to herself.

After getting to her apartment she followed through with her usual routine of getting ready for a run. She stripped and grabbed her gear, double checking how much of a charge she had on her iPod. Since it was still kind of warm she chose a pair of shorts instead of stretch pants. She took a bottle of water from her stainless-steel refrigerator and swiped her key card off the stand by the door before heading downstairs and back to the sidewalk.

As she rounded a corner a couple miles later Sera huffed a breath out in annoyance. The street light had just changed and the red hand was telling her she couldn't cross. As she was jogging in place a moment later though, one of her favorite songs came on: Photograph by Def Leppard. She smiled to herself and after glancing about to be sure no one was really looking at her she started to move her hips a little to the rhythm.

A few seconds later the red hand flicked out of existence and the white stick person flashed into view. Sera started moving forward again, realizing as she got to the other side of the street that she thought she felt a familiar energy. She stopped again and glanced about. Back on the other side of the street she could see a man with a tan jacket and a mess of brown hair walking in the opposite direction. '_Sam..?_' she wondered, but the man turned a corner before she could be sure.

After pondering if the man she had seen, and felt, had really been Sam for a moment Sera continued on her run. On her way back she was just passing the intersection she had been stopped at before when she felt the energy again. Up ahead of her the man, she could definitely see that it was Sam now, was coming back around the corner he had disappeared behind earlier. Sera jogged a little faster to come within a couple feet of him.

"Hey there!" she announced happily, only a little out of breath.

Sam looked up sharply and started to reach for something in his jacket with his free hand until he realized he knew who it was.

"Nurse Donovan. Hey." He replied, his hand now going to the back of his neck to rub awkwardly.

"I kinda figured you wouldn't be stepping foot out of the hospital for a while," she said while she eyed what he was carrying, "What's with the Ouija board?" she asked him wrinkling up her nose.

Sam's eyes widened and he clutched the paper sack that had the corner of a Ouija board box sticking out.

"Well, ya see, it's kind of a family tradition…" he started, the lies pouring out a little less easy than they usually did.

"I have no idea where you were going to go with that but I'm gonna stop ya right there." Sera interrupted him with a laugh, "What do you think is in my hospital, Sam?" she finished curiously.

His eyes narrowed in response.

"What are you talking about?" he asked her carefully.

"It's alright, Sam. Your dad told me who he was. I know he's a hunter. And I gather you and your brother probably are too..?" Sera insinuated gently.

"I… what? If what you're saying is actually true… why aren't you freaking out?" Sam asked her, his confusion obvious.

"Well, according to your dad, we all go way back. He's used my families… services. Hunters are our biggest customers" Sera finished quietly.

"Services? You realize how that sounds?" Sam asked raising an eyebrow.

"Okay fine… it sounds weird. But I really didn't know how else to put it." She told him somewhat sheepishly.

"Alright then. So what is it exactly that _your_ family does?" Sam asked.

"Probably easier if I show you. And before you ask, no, I can't help your brother. I'm not that good." She told him almost sadly.

Sam furrowed his brow and tensed up as Sera stepped into his personal space. She smiled a little, trying to ease his anxiety. She knew from experience that people who hunted extremely dangerous creatures for a living were always leery of something being too close. She slowly raised her hands to his face and cupped his cheeks. He gasped when her eyes turned white and he might have stepped away if not for the fact that the vision in his right eye was clearing. His shiner wasn't just superficial. The doctor had said it would take a couple of weeks for his vision to be back to normal.

"Wow…" was all he could utter as she stepped back and he blinked a few times.

"The rest of my family can do better than that. But I do what I can." Sera told him with a shrug, blinking a few times herself.

Sam didn't miss the way her right eye seemed to squint a bit. He would have asked her about it if he didn't suddenly remember the weight in his hand. He had to get back to the hospital.

"I think I might remember my dad saying something about your family now that I think about it. I'll have to ask him about it when I get back…" Sam glanced in the direction of the hospital, "And the thing in the hospital… I think it's my brother."

It was Sera's turn to furrow her brow and look confused. But she nodded regardless.

"Well you better get back to him then. I'm glad I ran into you. Literally." She laughed at her own bad joke.

"Yeah… Hey. Are you gonna be back in soon?" Sam asked her, admiring how her eyes seemed to shine when she laughed.

"Yeah I'll be in tomorrow. Can't say I'll see you guys though, I'm usually in the E.R." she told him with a wistful smile; she usually LIKED being in the E.D.

"Oh, well here's to hoping. See ya around." he replied, smiling softly and returning Sera's wave as he headed back toward the hospital.

Sera arrived back at her apartment just as the sun was setting and quickly got out of her sweaty clothes and into the shower. Donning a pair of black sweatpants and a worn yellow warmup shirt she parked herself on her comfy suede couch. She watched some terrible reality show about being stranded on an island for a while before deciding she was hungry.

She baked a salmon fillet with rice and paired it with some greens. Sera decided to wash what dishes were in the sink before she went back over to the couch. Quickly becoming bored with the television's meager offerings, that hadn't changed much from earlier, she grabbed her copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray off of the side table. She thumbed the page she had dog-eared and was swept away until her eyelids began to droop a while later and she turned in for the night.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: SOOOO sorry about skipping last week, people. Work got a little... demanding. But without further ado, please enjoy our regularly scheduled program. :)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. _

Sera stared at the ceiling blankly, trying to figure out what had woken her. It was still dark, although it seemed that pre-dawn light was starting to make shadows in her room. A few seconds later her phone dinged, alerting her to a voicemail left by the call that must have occurred. Grumbling to herself, Sera rolled over and typed in her password to access the message… noticing that the time was close to five in the morning.

It had been the hospital asking if she could do another day shift. She didn't particularly want to; she hadn't even gotten a full night's sleep. However something in her gut told her she needed to be there. So she called the office back and told them she would see them at seven. Sera figured it would be absurd to go back to sleep at this point so after lying there for a minute she got up and started her morning routine.

Dressed in a white undershirt and her scrub pants she headed for her kitchen a while later. She grabbed some peaches, berries, and vanilla yogurt from the refrigerator and started chopping. She threw it all in the blender before finding a bagel and her tub of cream cheese. The blender stopped rotating and the bagel popped up out of the toaster at the same time just minutes later.

Sera smeared a hefty portion of cream cheese on the bagel and poured herself a glass of the smoothie before relocating to the couch. While she ate she turned on the news. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary but supernatural activities rarely made it to broadcast, especially labeled as such. '_I wonder what news story the Winchesters would have been attached to, besides the crash_.' Sera thought to herself.

She still couldn't get them off of her mind. She didn't know what they could have been doing that led to John being shot. Monsters didn't usually wield guns to Sera's knowledge. Most Hunters came to the clinic with gashes, broken bones, or concussions. Not gunshot wounds.

Sera licked some wayward cream cheese off of her finger. '_I need to quit thinking about them… I probably won't even get a chance to see 'em again_.' She told herself, somewhat sadly. She turned the television off and went to clean up her mess in the kitchen. After that she donned her scrub top and tennis shoes and walked out the door.

* * *

Back on her usual unit, Sera still couldn't shake the feeling of wrongness she'd had since the day before. She sipped at the coffee Alicia had left for her in the break room even though it was lukewarm and couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen. She knew at this point that it most likely would have to do with the Winchesters.

She was assigned to one of the treatment pods in the E.D. so things moved a bit slower than when she triaged. Unfortunately that meant she had more time to speculate, and she didn't like what her brain was coming up with. She hadn't heard anything about Sam's brother through the grapevine and she was hesitant to ask. He had definitely not been in good shape, and she was almost positive now that the damage had actually occurred before the car crash.

A few hours later Sera had just finished bandaging up a dog bite and was walking to her station to order the rabies vaccines when she saw movement at the end of the hallway. It was odd for people to be back there, even staff, because it had only a stairwell and a few maintenance rooms. Sera quickly strode over to the opening of the hall and saw a man hunched over the boiler room door. It looked like he was fumbling with the door quite a lot, longer than someone who had a key would be.

"Excuse me, just what do you think…" Sera started to ask but stopped as the man turned toward her.

"John?" she asked, quickly walking up to him as he pocketed what looked like a lock-picking mechanism.

"Sera. I'm glad it's just you, girl." He tells her, a soft smile playing at his lips.

"What are you doing down here? Were you even discharged? Why are you trying to get into the boiler room?" she spouts off one after another, complete with exasperated hand movements.

"Look, I don't have a lot of time. Doc told me _Dean_ doesn't have a lot of time." John states, and her excitable manner dies down.

"I… I'm so sorry, John." She says quietly while placing a hand on his good shoulder, and she realizes that she really is sorry.

"No condolences necessary just yet. I have a plan, and it includes the boiler room." He says gesturing behind him and it's at this point Sera notices the supplies he's clutching.

"I don't understand… What plan? Did you, I mean… Have you talked to my mother?" Sera asks in confusion, but trying the only logical thing her mind conjures when people are in this kind of medical crisis.

"No, we don't have the kind of time it would take to get her here. I know you're smart, Sera. You haven't asked about it yet but I know you saw the gun shot." He states in a matter of fact tone, and she simply nods.

"We were in a cabin not far from here and I was possessed. Sam had to shoot me to get it out. That's why Dean's in the condition he's in too. Now I need to take care of my boy. Maybe buy them some time…" John trails off and glances back at the boiler room door.

"John… What are you gonna do?" Sera asks carefully, the feeling of dread she'd been carrying spiking and leaving a bad taste in her mouth.

"It doesn't matter. It has to be done. I need to ask something of you." His determined stare into the distance shifts to meet Sera's eyes and she almost shivers at the intensity.

"My boys… They're gonna have a rough time. They're not gonna understand. They're gonna be reckless. I need to know that they'll at least have a safety net." He tells her firmly, and she can tell he's completely sure of his path and the future it will bring.

"What exactly are you asking? You make it sound like you're the one dying…" she says, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion.

"I'm hoping you'll agree to help look after my boys. I'll make sure they have all the information about the clinic they need. It won't just be you and your mama, I've managed to collect other friends over the years." He manages a rueful smile, "I need to get going." He then states with finality and Sera can't help the slight panic that envelops her.

"John I barely know you people! I know you said you were around when I was younger but I don't remember any of that! I can't just let you do whatever it is you think you need to do and-" he cuts her off abruptly.

"Do you think you can stop me?" he asks and Sera has to almost do a double-take because no longer is John the worried father standing in front of her… It's John the hardened Hunter.

Sera can do nothing but stare wide-eyed at him for a moment. She knows how to handle stressful situations. Hell, she knows how to handle patients who are threatening to harm themselves or others. But this is a whole other ballgame. This is a tried and true killer. One who happens to claim to know her and her family. One who has his own family that he is looking out for. One who has completely and utterly made up his mind.

"No." she tells him at last, "I most likely couldn't stop you. I don't really know what's going on. I don't know if this is the right thing to do. But nothing I say at this point is going to stop you. I don't know how exactly I can help look after Sam and Dean… but I'll try." She finished, subdued.

"Thank you. I still can't get over how much you look like Vicky. Tell her I appreciate everything she's ever done for my family." He pauses, "And Seraphina, I know you'll do great things. All you kids will." He clears his throat at the end and Sera thinks he might be fighting tears.

She too almost feels like crying for this mostly unfamiliar man as he turns from her. She probably wants to cry just as much for his sons that are just upstairs and likely have no idea what is going on. As he opens the door and steps through she wants to reach out and try to stop him, no matter how unsuccessful her attempt would be, but she doesn't. She has seen people resigned and usually about to die before… but definitely nothing like this.

The door closes and the lock clicks back into place. Sera startles and then feeling like a jumble of nerves and confusion, walks slowly back to her hallway. What is she supposed to do now? She is barely halfway through her shift. How long will whatever John is doing take? What does she say to Sam? To Dean when, presumably, he gets better? The question that she avoids thinking is how she is supposed to go about being a safety net for these Hunters she barely knows.

Sera sits heavily in the cushioned station chair, glancing at the indicators above each door in her pod that would be flashing if any of them needed something. She looks around the desk almost blindly, not really seeing the charts and discarded supplies there, still very deep in thought. Until the vaccines she ordered catch her eye. More than just the Winchesters need her help right now she decides, grabbing the labeled bag with syringes inside.

* * *

Not long after the series of injections was started, Sera started getting antsy. Her thoughts were still almost completely on the Hunters, even when she was checking on patients. It was making her distracted and it was probably a miracle she hadn't tripped over herself or screwed something up by now. She didn't know if it had been enough time for John to do whatever it was that he was doing yet, but she needed to know what was going on.

Figuring that the safest option would be to check on Sam and Dean upstairs and see if they knew anything, Sera called the charge nurse. She waited impatiently for her relief to arrive, drumming her fingers on the desk and swaying the chair back and forth.

"Time for more caffeine, eh?" a man in baby blue scrubs identical to hers asks coming to lean against the desk.

Sera only vaguely recognized him; she usually works night shifts after all. She wonders if her reputation as a coffee addict precedes her or if he is simply assuming she needs caffeine because of her jitters. '_It really doesn't matter what he thinks though… I have shit to do._' Sera thinks irritably to herself, the stressful situation she's been placed in making a sour attitude seep into her normally cheery work persona.

"Yeah, definitely. All the charts are updated right now and everyone is good. I'll see ya in a bit." She tells him in a rush, seeing him frown at her lacking report.

Sera didn't even give the guy a second thought, instead darting into the hallway she had encountered John in earlier. She pushed open the door to the stairwell and continued her quick pace in an upward direction. Before she burst out onto the correct floor though, she paused in order to collect herself. Even if she wanted to know what was going on, she couldn't risk looking crazed or out of breath like she felt. If Sam and Dean didn't know anything… she didn't know if them finding out about _her_ knowing would be good.

Once she felt composed enough not to arouse suspicion, she pushed open the door and headed toward Dean's room. Sera figured that if John was downstairs there would be no other place to find Sam. A couple of nurses gave her confused looks as she passed by them but she pointedly ignored them. When she came to the open door she heard the tail end of something Sam had been saying out loud.

"…We were just starting to be brothers again." So quiet Sera barely heard him, but the desperation in his tone she heard just fine.

"Sam?" she asked just as quietly while stepping across the threshold, "How is he?"

"Nurse Donovan!" he stated looking surprised.

"Sera is fine now, I think." She told him, trying to smile but the thoughts racing around her head about the last couple hours made that difficult.

Sam nodded. "He's uh, not good. He told me he was hunting a Reaper."

"A Reaper? As in Grim?" she asked with concern.

"Kinda. I mean, they take souls but only when it's… their time." He finished morosely, looking toward the still unconscious Dean.

Sera didn't know what to say to that. John's determination and statement that they didn't have the kind of time it would take for her mother to arrive made sense now though. She didn't know a whole lot about what Hunters hunted besides the basics, and a Reaper was one of the rarer creatures she heard about. They mostly just did their natural duties and neither party paid the other any mind. Could Dean even do anything about one?

"And with my Dad ditching to probably do something stupid, I just don't know what to do." Sam continued in the same tone when she didn't speak up.

Sam looked over at her and noticed she didn't look surprised at all by what he had said. He narrowed his eyes and she couldn't help but look away. Hunters were very perceptive she remembered, and she started to think that maybe it had been a mistake to come up here. Before he could say anything to her about it though, they both heard a harsh gasp followed by choking. Dean had woken up and like all people with tubes down their throats he started to struggle against it. Sam rushed to the door and yelled out for help while Sera grabbed some gloves and went over to the bed.

"Dean, you need to calm down for me. I'm going to pull it out but you need to relax." She told him sternly, one hand pushing his forehead back and the other grasping the tube just outside his mouth.

His eyes met hers and the sounds of choking grew fainter. She nodded in satisfaction and then with practiced ease began to swiftly pull. Once the tube had cleared his throat he began to cough again, most likely trying to rid himself of the feeling. While Sera examined the apparatus to make sure nothing got left behind she told Sam to grab some water. As she turned to discard the tube and her gloves, the doctor and another nurse were finally rushing in. They looked between the now conscious Dean and Sera and she sighed in resignation.

"He woke up. I happened to be visiting my… friend… Sam, here." She said gesturing in the appropriate direction, "But all I did was remove his vent tube." She finished with a shrug.

The nurse gave her a disbelieving look but the doctor simply nodded and stepped forward with his stethoscope. As Sam moved over to the bed and handed his brother the water with a smile, Sera began to feel awkward. She shouldn't have even been up here. Sam knew his father had been up to something but they knew no more than she did apparently. At least Dean was awake now, even though it forced her to perform a procedure on a unit she wasn't assigned to. _'But at what cost?'_ she asked herself, her feeling of dread spiking once again.

"I'm just gonna wait in the hall." She stated after she got Sam's attention.

He nodded to her but was clearly distracted. She smiled on her way out anyways because she could easily see how happy he was that his brother was finally awake. Sera could tell that the bond between them was very strong. Though that made the snippet of Sam's monologue she had overheard earlier confuse her somewhat. She hoped she would have a chance to learn what he had meant. She hoped everything turned out all right for them.

With a start she realized just how much their feelings meant to her... John included. Maybe somewhere in her subconscious she remembered these men because surely she wouldn't have such warm feelings for complete strangers. She titled her head back against the wall she was leaning on to stare at the ceiling. She tried again to remember them but all she could come up with was her experiences in the past couple days: being their nurse, Sam's smile, Dean's once broken body and John's request. That last one alone was enough to give her pause. _'Just what have I gotten myself into?'_

_A/N: I apologize in advance, but school starts next week. It gets very hectic but I will try my very best to continue to update regularly... it will help keep me sane. _


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